


dragon's flight

by anticommute



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, dragon riders of pern au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-06 22:22:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4238742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anticommute/pseuds/anticommute
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Dragonriders of Pern AU). Fort Weyr, middle of the Second Pass. Y'xing, rider of brown Layrth, and B'khyun, rider of green Flarenth are weyrmates. </p><p>(basically yixing and baekhyun domestic boyfriends on dragons.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	dragon's flight

**Author's Note:**

> Introduction taken largely from Anne McCaffrey's Moreta and Red Star Rising, slightly modified. For readers of the Pern books, there are some slight tweaks to modify what was originally a very whitewashed world. For those familiar with the series, feel free to skip the introduction. Shoutout to JJ who precipitated my relapse into Pern.
> 
> (also uh unbeta'd as usual lmk if anyone is kissing themselves or if someone's teeth has teeth)

Rukbat, in the Sagittarian sector, was a golden G-type star. It had five planets, two asteroid belts, and a stray planet it had attracted and held in recent millennia. When men first settled on Rukbat’s third planet and called it Pern, they had taken little notice of the stranger planet, swinging around its adopted primary in a wildly erratic orbit - until the desperate path of the wanderer brought it close to its stepsister at perihelion. When such aspects were harmonious and not distorted by conjunctions with other planets in the system, the wanderer brought in a life form that sought to bridge the space gap to the more temperate and hospitable planet.

The initial losses the colonists suffered from the voracious organism that fell on them were staggering. It burrowed into the ground, and devoured any carbon based life form and material. The colonists had already divorced themselves from their home planet, Earth, and had no choice but to improvise with what they had. Their first need was an aerial defense against the Thread, as they named the menace.

The result was a bioengineered variant of a Pernese life form - the so called fire lizards which had two defining and useful characteristics: they could digest a phosphate bearing rock in one of their two stomachs, belching forth the resultant gas as a fiery breath which charred Thread to harmless ash, and their ability to teleport and share an empathy that allowed limited understanding with humans. These bioengineered “dragons”, so called because they resembled the Earth’s mythical creatures - were paired at hatching with an empathic human, Impressing and forming a symbiotic relationship of unusual depth and mutual respect.

Only stone and metal stopped the burrow of Thread, and so the colonists moved to the Northern Continent, seeking shelter from the insidious Thread in the cave systems, new homes they called Holds. The dragons and their riders came, too, housing themselves in old volcanic craters: Weyrs. The colonists soon adopted a long forgotten feudal society, with Lords and Ladies of the Holds, with Masters and Journeymen of each Craft, and with the addition of Weyrleaders, the rider of the bronze who flew the golden queen of the senior Weyrwoman of each Weyr. Soon, Pern adopted its own customs - the honourific shortening of a dragon rider’s name, a natural consequence as syllables were slurred over. Nitric acid became known as agenothree, and early into the Second Pass, the College rediverted its resources from preserving Terran knowledge to the knowledge that was relevant to Pern, and to pass that knowledge on through music.

As for the dragons, the Weyrs had their own social arrangements, for the needs of the dragons took priority over all other considerations. Of the dragons, the gold and green were female, the bronze, brown, and blue male. Of the female dragons, only the golden were fertile; the greens were rendered sterile by the chewing of firestone, which was as well since the sexual proclivities of the small greens would soon have resulted in overpopulation. They were the most agile, however, and invaluable as fighters of Thread, fearless and aggressive. But the price of fertility was inconvenience, and riders of queen dragons carried flamethrowers to char Thread. The blue males were sturdier than their smaller sisters, while the browns and bronzes had the staying power for long, arduous battles against Thread.

Each Pass of Thread, the colonists had calculated, would last nearly fifty years, with intervals of 250 years between each Pass as the wanderer once again approached Pern. During this interval, the dragons multiplied, each successive generation becoming a little larger than the last. The people of Pern prospered, spreading out across the Northern Continent, creating holds to live in and halls in which to train young people in specialized skills and professions. Sometimes, folks even forgot that they lived on a threatened planet. At the end of the First Interval, shortly before the Second Pass, Pern was threatened as some Holders believed that given the two hundred fifty years of serenity, there was little to fear, that Thread was some long gone myth.

They were, however, wrong. Thread fell, and Pern once again looked towards the brave dragons and their riders who risked their lives to protect the planet.

And here, we look towards Fort Weyr, the first Weyr, some twenty Turns after the Second Pass has begun...

  
  


 

* * *

 

 

_I am hungry._

The voice sounded plaintively in his head, as Y’xing, rider of brown Layrth, slowly stretched his stiff muscles, only half awake. Nearby, Layrth’s great triangular head rested on a stone ledge, his eyes whirling a pale orange, broadcasting very clearly his hunger as he regarded his rider hopefully. Y’xing smiled indulgently, shaking his head to clear it of the last of the sleep fog. Beside him, his weyrmate B’khyun was very clearly missing.

_Flarenth says he is feeding himself and then they will go hunt. Will we hunt? Flarenth says B'khyun's arm is doing well._

Y’xing laughed aloud, as he sat up, both at his friend's anticipation of his question and his petulance. _Of course we will, silly_ , he reassured his dragon telepathically. _Thank you for telling me about B'khyun_.

Fully awake now, and with a hungry dragon following him with his eyes around the weyr, Y’xing swung himself out of bed, giving the brown dragon a quick scratch behind the eye ridges before wandering across the room to pull on a clean tunic and pair of trousers. Now why hadn’t his weyrmate woken him when he’d left?

 _You were sleeping peacefully, Flarenth says_ , Layrth supplied helpfully. _Can you go eat quickly now?_

Y’xing laughed again, giving his dragon a fond pat on the shoulder.

“I’ll be quick,” he assured him aloud. B’khyun would be in the kitchens, most likely. Y’xing first popped his head in to the weyr next to his, greeting green Flarenth a good morning. He was halfway out the door when Layrth reminded him he was still barefoot.

Y’xing blinked, then looked down.

Ah. Yes. Boots.

Finally fully clad, Y’xing made his way down to the Lower Caverns to find B’khyun. It was, as usual, a bustling hub of activity, with weyrfolk of all ages, riders and otherwise, snatching rolls and klah for their morning meal. Some of them sat at tables, or stood hopefully out of the way of those working in the kitchens, while others simply stuffed a roll in their mouth before leaving to a full day’s work. Standing at the entrance, Y’xing scanned the Lower Caverns for his weyrmate. Sera, rider of gold Inith, the senior Weyrwoman, was just leaving, and he gave her a respectful bow. He didn’t see Aisha, the Headwoman, but he did see Taekwoon over by the ovens, but his friend looked busy, and Y’xing didn’t want to interrupt. He finally found B'khyun nestled in a corner, a plate of meatrolls and bread in front of him, with a little crock of jam. Y’xing grinned, his stomach suddenly hungry.

 _Because I am hungry_ , Layrth reminded him. _You are always hungry when I am hungry._

And that was indeed true. Being a dragon rider meant that he shared every emotion and feeling with his dragon - joy, happiness, excitement, but also sorrow…and hunger.

B’khyun had caught sight of his weyrmate, and waved him over with his good hand, a bright grin on his face.

“I thought you’d sleep forever,” he teased, gesturing for Y’xing to sit down, before pushing a steaming cup of klah in front of him.

“I _was_ rather tired,” Y’xing admitted. “I got distracted last night and…you know.” He trailed off, because B’khyun did indeed know.

While Y’xing was Beast Hold bred, B’khyun was Harper bred and understood the importance of music. It was an opinion he voiced quite loudly, especially when someone grumbled about all the knowledge that had been lost since the Pass had begun. “Can you imagine learning by sitting there and reading and having to know all that useless information?” he’d say loud enough to be overheard. “The Teaching Ballads are much more sensible and practical and easier to learn!” Usually, Y’xing would roll his eyes and took it as his cue to drag the green rider away. While Y’xing had some musical training beyond the Teaching Ballads from his hold harper, enough to at least write down some tunes and melodies, B’khyun’s training was far more extensive, especially when it came to the voice. Y’xing mostly played the gitar these days, ever since his voice had broken and didn’t have the high, sweet quality it once carried. B’khyun constantly assured him that his voice sounded fine and that it was lovely, but that was also just B’khyun.

He’d been up late last night, fiddling with the lyrics to a piece he’d been working on. No one would likely hear it but B’khyun, because he didn’t think his music was good enough to play, but B’khyun was always an appreciative audience and sang his songs, which was more than enough for Y’xing. Either way, it was something he enjoyed, especially on days where Threadfall was not imminent, and he didn’t have to worry about tiring himself out before Threadfall the next day.

“Did you finish?” B’khyun asked, before stuffing a meatroll into his mouth.

Y’xing shook his head, reaching for the jam to slather on a slice of bread.

“Almost,” he said. “It’s just missing…something."

“You’ll find it,” B’khyun reassured him. Y’xing shrugged, taking a big gulp of klah.

“Flarenth tells me that Layrth said you walked out without your boots this morning,” B’khyun said. His lips quirked with laughter. “Next thing you know you’ll be forgetting your shirt."

Y’xing wrinkled his nose. “I _nearly_ forgot my boots,” he said - not deigning to mention that B’khyun would probably be glad if he’d forgotten his shirt one day.

Y’xing pushed back his chair as he stood, cramming the bread into his mouth and washing it down with the rest of the klah, grabbing two meatrolls for later.

“Time to go feed our bottomless stomachs,” he said, grinning at his weyrmate.

B’khyun groaned, before following suit. “At least Layrth is nice enough not to wake you when he’s hungry. Flarenth wouldn’t shut up until I did."

 _I was hungry_ , both dragon riders heard clearly in their minds in Flarenth’s unrepentant voice.

They shared a grin.

“Like rider like dragon,” Y’xing said, neatly sidestepping B’khyun’s swipe.

"Flarenth told Layrth told me your arm is alright?" he queried, nodding at the arm bound up in a sling.

B'khyun grimaced, giving it an experimental prod. He'd broken it a seven day back, when Flarenth had banked too sharply, coming down from a Threadscored wing. He'd been too close to the ground for the harness to be any help, and not close enough for no damage to occur. Y’xing had been on hand, his wing not in the rotation that flight. He still recalled the sulfuric smell of firestone, suffused in everything, as he’d watched dragon and rider’s descent. But Flarenth had been beside herself with worry and pain, keeping Y’xing occupied - both of which had diminished once dragon and rider had been slathered liberally with numbweed. While Flarenth's wing was fine to fly on, if a little awkward, and would heal sooner rather than later, B'khyun's arm meant he was out of the fighting wings until it had healed fully. Y'xing didn't mind if it kept B'khyun on the ground. It was safer than fighting Thread.

"Not healing fast enough," B'khyun grumbled.

Y'xing chuckled. "Bones take time," he said. "Something your songs don't tell you."

"Then why don't you write one?" B'khyun retorted.

Y'xing hummed a reply, just as they stepped out into the Bowl, their dragons ready and waiting.

 _We eat?_ they both asked, their eyes whirling in hunger.

The two riders shared a look, grinning ear to ear.

"Yes, you eat," B'khyun said, awkwardly climbing onto his dragon. "You do nothing but eat."

 _We flame Thread_ , Flarenth protested.

 _We fly_ , Layrth added helpfully.

Y'xing laughed, hopping easily onto Layrth's back. "Need a hand?" he called teasingly to where B'khyun was still trying to settle himself.

B'khyun rolled his eyes. "Go stuff yourself!" he yelled back, urging Flarenth into the air. They winked _between_ before Y'xing had a chance to berate him for his language.

Y'xing sighed. "Off we go, my pet," he told Layrth.

_Finally!_

 

They reappeared after the three breaths spent in the cold of _between_ over the coastline near South Boll hold. B'khyun was already lounging under the shade of a tree, Flarenth out over the ocean, a large fish wriggling in his claws.

"You know, Layrth didn't like fish until he flew Flarenth," Y'xing remarked as he joined B'khyun. As soon as he'd deposited his rider, Layrth disappeared and reappeared near Flarenth, the two soon making a game as they ate.

"No accounting for draconian tastes," B'khyun said, eyes twinkling.

Y'xing stared at him blankly for a full three seconds before he reacted. "Hey!" he yelped. "I wasn't that bad!"

In his first week as a weyrling, Y'xing had managed not only to fall down a set of stairs, nearly cracking open his skull, but had also walked into several doors, among other things. 'No accounting for draconian tastes' was something their weyrling master, K'pher had repeated several times. Y'xing insisted that it was because he'd had the bad luck of going through his own growth spurt at the same time as the dragonet was growing out of his skin by the day, not because he spent too much time with his head in the clouds - but the phrase was something that had stuck.

Not that B'khyun had any right to bring that up!

"You know," Y'xing said slowly, "Taekwoon's told me _plenty_ about your time down at Fort Hold."

B'khyun blanched. "You wouldn't."

Y'xing's eyes twinkled. "Oh, I wouldn't mean to, but if I happened to get a little drunk, say, too much Benden wine, you never know."

"Okay, okay," B'khyun groaned. "I won't bring it up again."

Y'xing hummed in satisfaction, a battle well won. Not the war, because while they both kept their word on the specifics, the spirit of the thing, well, that was another tale altogether.

The breeze coming off the sea was cool, a pleasant accompaniment to the warmth radiating from the sun. Y'xing let his eyes close, leaning back against a tree. A warm, heavy weight dropped on his legs. He didn't have to look to know it was B'khyun, sprawled on top of him with an arm thrown over his eyes to shield them from the sun. He wiggled his left leg, just a little, laughing when his weyrmate smacked him in the chest in retaliation.

Far out over the ocean, he could just catch the glimmer of their dragons, Layrth's brown and Flarenth's green, the two darting in and out of the water, twining around each other, diving and splashing in the ocean spray. Y'xing smiled, full of fondness for them both.

Y'xing was from a beasthold, and he'd thought the rapport he'd had with the runnerbeasts his hold bred was everything and more. That was before he'd been Searched, before he'd Impressed Layrth. Impressing a dragon, being a dragonrider - it was nothing like riding a runner, as Layrth reminded him often. His favourite runner had been his friend - they'd gone everywhere together, except indoors, and Y'xing had spoken to him like he'd understood, but Layrth. Well, Layrth was...Layrth. _He_ was part of Layrth just as Layrth was a part of him. Until he'd Impressed, he hadn't understood why dragons would go _between_ when their riders died, or why the riders became shells of themselves, if they lived at all, when their dragons were hurt so badly that they'd gone _between_ forever. But to lose Layrth - it wasn't a thought he could entertain for long - but if he did, Y'xing didn't think he could live. It'd be losing not just half of himself - it'd be losing all of himself.

As if aware of Y'xing's meandering thoughts, he felt a tug at his tunic, and looked down to see B'khyun staring at him with his eyes open.

"Oh, so you are awake," his weyrmate said.

Y'xing's mouth quirked. "If I were asleep you'd know it."

B'khyun's eyebrows shot up. "I wouldn't be so sure," he said. "Sometimes you sleep with your eyes open."

"Taekwoon," Y'xing said. B'khyun got the hint.

Taekwoon was one of the few other Asians in the Weyr. Y'xing knew that a long, long time ago, in his grandmother's grandmother's time, when humans had first come to Pern, there'd been more distinct Ethnic groups. They were _han zu_ , his grandmother had told him. Y'xing - he'd still been Yixing then - had frowned. "What does that mean?" he'd asked. He knew there were differences - knew some people were a little paler, a little darker. Knew that what his grandmother said they were meant that they shared the same black hair, dark brown eyes, the same shade of skin. He also knew that they had their own language, the one that his name came from, and his mother's name, his grandmother's name. There was a book, one that had been passed down through the generations. His grandmother had given it to him, after he'd been Searched but before he'd left for the Impression. It was a book with pictures - pictures that were words. Beside the picture words were definitions. It was, his grandmother said, a dictionary. She'd shown him the characters for his name - yi for art, xing for excitement, for success, for greatness. They'd lost so much, she'd said, getting that faraway look in her eyes. Her own grandmother had known so much more, could still speak the old language. Now all they had was a book of words that were no longer used, and that soon, no one would be able to read. But, his grandmother had continued, maybe that was for the best. After all, their ancestors had come here to dissolve the boundaries and strifes that the differences between people could cause. Yixing had wondered aloud if she'd meant differences like being a dragonrider, or being a Weaver, or a beast holder, and she'd laughed, and patted his hand with her own, skin paper thin over thinner bones. "You are truly born to this land," she'd said, and then had sent him off, because she was tired.

That had been many years ago now - Y'xing still had the book, wrapped in cloth, tucked away in his trunk in his weyr. He'd seen her twice after he'd Impressed - it was something he regretted, because he'd promised her he'd see her as often as he could, he'd see her lots more times, but he'd never had the time to honour that promise.

Leaving his home hold had been eye opening. Away from their secluded hold and surrounded by people, Y'xing _could_ see the differences.

He hadn't Impressed that time, but there had been another clutch hardening on the Hatching Grounds, and so he'd stayed. B'khyun and Taekwoon, they'd come together from Fort Hold. They were a strange pair - Baekhyun was lively and garrulous, Taekwoon rarely spoke except to tell Baekhyun off for being annoying. They were cousins of some sort, their parents or grandparents had been siblings or cousins or something that meant that they were at least somewhat related by blood, or so Baekhyun had said. Taekwoon had just shrugged. Baekhyun had been the one to explain the difference between Races - "it's all archaic and left over from before Landing, but it'll be bred out eventually and soon everyone will be a bit of everything, but right now, see, you, me, and Taekwoon, we look a bit different from, well, T'mas and C'nor right, and neither of us look much like Aisha - shush, I know, Aisha's a girl and we're not but her skin's a little darker and her eyes aren't the same shape - see what I mean? It's like - you breed runners, you know how it works." "I know what?" Yixing had been puzzled. "If you have one pen that has a lot of runners that all have long legs then you get more runners with long legs, and if you have another that has runners that are better at hauling things, you get more runners like that - but if you mix the two herds then they'll eventually all be the same." Baekhyun hadn't gotten any further than that, because Taekwoon had thrown something at his head. Since Baekhyun had been born and raised in the Harper Hall - which, not too long ago, had still been the College, a repository of information from old Terran - he was full of useless information like that.

 _That_ had also been a long time ago. Y'xing and B'khyun had both Impressed at that Hatching, and while Taekwoon was offered another chance, just like Y'xing had been, he'd declined, having become quite enamoured with the kitchens in the meantime. In the years since, Y'xing and Taekwoon had become good friends, and Y'xing and B'khyun...well, that had been helped along by their dragons as much as anything else.

 

Y'xing didn't remember drifting off, but he must have, because it had been morning, and now it was afternoon. The sun was warm, almost hot, having shifted so that he was half basking in its rays. A cool ocean breeze washed over the shore in a constant flow, pleasant against his skin, taking with it the light dampness that was so pervasive of these shores. Both Layrth and Flarenth were sunning themselves nearby, Layrth giving him a sleepy blink as Y'xing stared.

 _It is warm_ , Layrth said. _Good place for sleeping_.

 _It is_ , Flarenth agreed, in her voice that sounded so very similar to B'khyun's.

Y'xing grinned, basking in the moment. The dragons' tails were twined, he noted, Flarenth resting her wedge head in the crook of Layrth's forearm. He wished for a moment that he could capture this image forever, but he was no artist and he doubted even the finest artist could quite mimic the sheer glow of their hide.

He was just about to get up to look to see where B'khyun was, when a ripe redfruit landed in his lap, followed by B'khyun soon after. Y'xing let out a quite "oomf" when B'khyun hit his legs.

"I looked like I needed the sleep?" Y'xing asked ruefully as he picked up the redfruit.

"Yup!" B'khyun grinned, pushing stray strands of hair away from his face. At some point while Y'xing had been sleeping, B'khyun had lost his tunic, and there was a slight sheen of sweat over B'khyun's bare chest. Y'xing didn't have a chance to note much more, as B'khyun grabbed the redfruit from his hands and took a large bite, the juices running down his chin.

Y'xing sighed, wiping it off with the edge of his tunic. B'khyun laughed, taking another bite, but this time, leaning forward until their lips met. Y'xing blinked several times, surprised, before an irritated sound from the back of B'khyun's throat startled him enough that his lips parted, and the now lukewarm redfruit juice trickled from B'khyun's mouth to his.

"Gross," Y'xing grumbled, as soon as B'khyun pulled back. "It was warm."

"Your fault for being slow," B'khyun shot back.

"Who's slow?" Y'xing growled, wrapping an arm around B'khyun's chest and yanking him down, very mindful of his left arm - less mindful of the rest of him. The taste of redfruit juice still lingered in both of their mouths, Y'xing forcing his tongue between B'khyun's lips, his weyrmate responding immediately, his good hand coming up to cup the back of Y'xing's neck, pulling him closer as B'khyun's teeth closed lightly around Y'xing's tongue.

Y'xing pulled back, and B'khyun immediately took the opportunity to nibble at Y'xing's lip, his own lips closing hot and tight around them. A low rumble from their dragons drew them apart - just long enough for them to give each other a meaningful look, before they both sent their dragons to go sun and swim somewhere much further away.

"Flarenth's not due to rise for some time," B'khyun said, voice low.

Y'xing ran a hand through B'khyun's hair, the other brushing bangs out of his face. "We don't need to wait for them," he pointed out, and from the way B'khyun leaned forward to catch Y'xing's lips between his teeth again, he quite agreed.

A wet moan hung between the two of them, as Y'xing let B'khyun take control, giving the green rider all the reins he could hold with one hand, leaning into B'khyun's touch, wrapping an arm around his waist, clutching him so they were chest to chest.

B'khyun's fingers were tangled tightly in his hair, holding him at an angle as he kissed him, their noses just crashing uncomfortably. Y'xing twisted, shifted so that B'khyun was settled between one crooked knee and Y'xing's chest, pulled him tighter and closer to himself.

They pulled away breathless, cheeks flushed and blood rushing. For a brief moment, Y'xing found himself lost in B'khyun's eyes, before that brief moment was over as B'khyun caught him in another kiss, fast this time, and full of teeth. B'khyun's teeth were sharp, and Y'xing felt every one, the eagerness in his response no less than B'khyun's hungry kiss. This time, however, Y'xing was the one to pull back just a little, to push B'khyun forward, just a little, a smile playing about his lips. B'khyun's lips formed the moue of a pout, but Y'xing placed a finger against them before he could protest. The wet touch of B'khyun's tongue flicked out against Y'xing's finger - it was Y'xing's turn to make a face, but it was quickly replaced with unconscious intent, as his other hand trailed down B'khyun's chest.

"You need to get rid of this," Y'xing murmured, but he didn't stop to help him, instead letting his hand drop lower, his fingers deftly undoing the tie of B'khyun's trousers.

The green rider leaned hungrily into Y'xing's touch, even as he caught Y'xing's finger, still at his lips, in his mouth. Y'xing felt the blood pooling somewhere below his stomach, B'khyun's eyes impish, his mouth wet and hot and tight and a promise of things to come.

But as much as B'khyun's expression was doing things to Y'xing's blood flow, so too was the smoulder in Y'xing's eyes, the way his usually soft expression was drawn into one of focus, his brows furrowed ever so slightly, his mouth and jaw set in a determination that had nothing to do with danger or stubbornness, and everything to do with desire. B'khyun would've licked his lips - instead, he swiped his tongue around Y'xing's finger.

Y'xing moaned, his lips parting a little. He crooked his finger inside B'khyun's mouth, relishing the way B'khyun responded immediately, tongue curling, trapping Y'xing's finger against the roof of his mouth, sliding up it wet and hot, teeth closing lightly around his knuckle. Y'xing swallowed, his body tensing, his trousers suddenly too tight.

From the way B'khyun was hardening under his hand, he doubted he was alone.

Y'xing pulled his finger away now, catching B'khyun in a quick kiss to shut him up. "Too much clothes," he murmured into his mouth, the only warning B'khyun had before Y'xing was tugging at the tie of his trousers, yanking it down past B’khyun’s thighs. B’khyun struggled a little with the rest, as he half stood half knelt, what with one arm out of commission - Y’xing was more than happy to help.

"You'll have to strip yourself," B'khyun said.

Y'xing did so, and did so gladly.

They shifted back, away from the sand as they left tunic and trousers and the remainder of their garments in a hasty pile. They'd learned their lesson when they were younger and less wise, that although a bed of fine, white sand may seem a romantic place, but in practice, was as bad as a mattress of stickle bush.

But this was South Boll where the grass was green and lush, even this close to the coastline. Y'xing pushed B'khyun down gently, his eyes running down his well muscled chest, the firm tone of his arms, his well proportioned thighs. They were riders, so of course their bodies were strong to match - they had to be, when the muscles in their arms, legs, bodies was all that kept them upright and on their dragons at times. But B'khyun was also slim and lean, his muscularity rounded out with a layer of softness. His thighs and rear were full and ample, and Y'xing took great pleasure from feeling the curve and give of them in his palms. Y'xing settled himself between B'khyun's thighs now, and he ran his hands up the sides of them, his fingers rough with callouses scratching lightly against the smooth skin. B'khyun looked up at him, eyes wide, lips red and swollen and parted.

Y'xing let his hands wander, his thumbs tracing circles against B'khyun's hip bones, fingers creeping upwards, until he'd circled B'khyun's cock with one hand. He gave it a quick squeeze, relishing the moan that slipped unhindered through B'khyun's lips, before moving his hand away to ghost against the well defined muscles of B'khyun's stomach. There was, like the rest of him, a softness there as well. Y'xing smiled, leaned down to leave a kiss right there, a mark for no one to see but the two of them.

"Get on with it," B'khyun mock growled.

Y'xing suddenly sat back on his heels, frowning in consternation. "But--"

He was interrupted as B'khyun thrust his right hand in Y'xing's face, rolling his eyes all the while. When he opened it, Y'xing recognised the small crock of oil that B'khyun kept underneath his pillow. Y'xing blinked.

"One should always be prepared," B'khyun intoned, eyes laughing at Y'xing's blank stare.

"You planned this," Y'xing accused, but nonetheless he took the proffered item, twisting off the lid with deft practice. He dipped his fingers into the oil, warmed from both the South Boll weather and likely B'khyun's pocket, shifting forward somewhat so that B'khyun was propped up on Y'xing's knees.

B'khyun wiggled closer a little, lifting his hips to settle himself more comfortably. Y'xing stroked an absent minded hand against the outside of B'khyun's thighs, as he eased an oiled finger through B'khyun's entrance. It was tight and hot and B'khyun let out a small moan as Y'xing crooked his finger inside of him.

"You can go faster," B'khyun noted. His cheeks were flushed, and Y'xing leaned forward to peck him quickly on the lips.

Y'xing grinned, pulling back before B'khyun could say anything. "You're cute." Y'xing _could_ go faster, but that didn't mean he had to, or wanted to. They weren't caught in the throes of a mating flight, where need overtook everything else. Their dragons were far, and hopefully somewhat inured to their riders' thoughts, if not their emotions. He loved Layrth, loved everything that came with being his rider, just as he loved Flarenth and he knew B'khyun did too - but he loved B'khyun just like this as well, even when their dragons were absent, even when they came together when their dragons did not.

"Don't have to go so slow," B'khyun mumbled.

"But I want to," Y'xing replied, and he truly did.

He leaned down, letting his lips fall gently against the sharp jut of B'khyun's hip bones. His tongue flickered outward, just brushing B'khyun's skin, the taste soft with a hint of salt. He set himself to sucking a tight mark right there, as he slipped another finger into B'khyun's entrance, working him carefully open, loosening him as gently as he could.

B'khyun was right - he didn't need to. They'd done it before, without any preparation whatsoever. B'khyun had been a bit stiff the next day, but he'd been alright.

But Y'xing liked this, liked the sweet moans that slipped through B'khyun's lips, liked the way B'khyun shifted into him. He liked how B'khyun twitched when Y'xing pressed a kiss against B'khyun's cock, licking the precome from the tip. He liked running his hand against B'khyun's body as he worked him open, liked the flush of B'khyun's entire body, liked being able to appreciate each subtle movement that B'khyun made in response to his touch.

There was something that Y'xing liked about this - about gazing down into B'khyun's half open eyes, his eyelids fluttering as if he couldn't decide himself whether he wished to watch or feel. They did not open their minds to each other, the way they did when their dragons flew and they came together, when they were one and the same. He liked this, liked when they were separate, entirely so - not wholly Y'xing, rider of brown Layrth and B'khyun, rider of green Flarenth, but just Y'xing and B'khyun, two separate people, two different people, whose paths happened to cross and have brought them to this point.

As Y'xing slid his fingers out, B'khyun's eyes did open - in question, in anticipation. Y'xing had no need to answer with words - he answered as he slicked himself with oil, and in one smooth motion, slid into B'khyun. The heat enveloped more than just Y'xing's cock, instead swelling and blanketing all of him in an aura from inside out.

Y'xing could not see himself, but he knew that his eyes fell shut, his fingers gripped at B'khyun's hips, holding him still as he lifted them both into the air, his own hips snapping forward in fluid movements. B'khyun, in the moments when his eyes opened, caught glimpses of Y'xing's full lips wet and parted, of the way his head was thrown slightly back, the way sweat plastered hair to his face. But just as Y'xing was too occupied with the touch between the two of them, so too was B'khyun - not only the feeling of Y'xing inside of him, of the pleasure of being so perfectly filled, nor just the waves of thrill each time Y'xing hit _that_ spot. Nor was it the feeling of heat coiled so tight at the base of his torso that he felt fit to explode. There was simply something about the sheer knowledge that every brush of skin between the two of them was between the two of them, just the two of them--

Y'xing came inside of B'khyun, and B'khyun moments after, their moans of pleasure mixing in the warm air so that it wasn't clear whose it was. Their contentment was so shared that it was all but one, their bodies white hot with ecstasy, exploding through every nerve. It was B'khyun who pulled Y'xing down, so that he lay on top of him, but Y'xing was all but boneless and he sprawled gracelessly over him, their bodies hot and sticky.

He let a sigh of contentment play against B'khyun's neck - B'khyun jerked back, a yelp of protest, blowing stream of air towards Y'xing's ear. Y'xing recoiled from it, a giggle escaping him as he slapped a hand against his neck, the spot that B'khyun knew he was most ticklish.

The sound of dragons bugled far off in the distance. Sharing a grin, they both opened their minds to their dragons again, the four of them sharing their content in the most intimate way possible for mankind.

 

\---

 

There'd been three weeks of near constant Threadfall. Riders and dragons and weyrfolk were all feeling the strain, as injuries piled both from sheer number and rider exhaustion. Most of the injuries were minor - nothing some numbweed and fellis juice couldn't fix, dulling the pain and letting their bodies recover. Many of the injured riders could fly Thread even after being Scored. Y'xing had flown the last two with a Scored back - but even tho they'd scar ugly and had burned hot, they'd jumped _between_ so quickly that the Thread hadn't had a chance to burrow in at all, and had only brushed the surface. B'khyun's face had been pale when Y'xing had appeared, his own face drawn with pain - he'd slathered Y'xing's back with numbweed, and it'd been with reluctance that he'd let Y'xing rejoin his wing.

They'd had a tense evening, once that Fall was over, but they both knew that dragonmen must fly when Thread was in the sky. As long as they were able. Y'xing knew that part of B'khyun's frustration and worry stemmed from B'khyun still being grounded, unable to fly properly with his arm. He’d be able to fly soon, but they still had enough riders that they didn't need to risk injured ones. They'd been lucky so far - Fort had only lost three dragons and riders from Thread the past year, but that didn't mean they wanted to risk adding to the number. Already, they were looking forward to the end of this Pass - but there were still nearly twenty turns until that happened.

But now that the three weeks were over, and with no Threadfall over Fort territory for over a week, the entire Weyr could relax and recover. That had been done with much wine and feasting the night of, and late and lazy mornings after. B'khyun's arm was mostly better now - Y'xing declared him, with some reluctance, fit to fly the next Fall. Even though Y'xing had initially protested that he'd only known much Healing when it came to animals, since arriving at the Weyr, he'd had as much practice with humans as dragons. And he was glad for that, because it meant he could oversee B'khyun's recovery.

It was not a cold morning, but Y'xing snuggled closer to his weyrmate anyway, wrapping an arm around B'khyun's bare chest, tucking his head against the hollow of B'khyun's shoulder. It was nice not having to be too careful of B'khyun's arm - it was out of the sling now and was fine as long as he didn't jar it. He nosed at B'khyun's neck, smiling to himself when B'khyun's nose twitched in his sleep. Sometimes, B'khyun reminded him of a small puppy, the way he burst with energy, the way he was so eager to please. And the way he was cute like one, with his cute face and eyes and nose.

B’khyun didn’t seem ready to wake any time soon. Y’xing carefully disentangled himself from him, padding across the stone floor to the table. Layrth opened one sleepy eye, before snorting quietly and shutting it again. Y'xing smiled at him fondly. Glancing over his shoulder, sure that B’khyun was deep in sleep, he unpacked his gitar from its case, giving it an experimental strum. What with Threadfall, he really hadn’t had much time to work on the song from nearly a month ago. This peaceful moment seemed a perfect time for it.

Pulling out the musical sheets, he thoughtfully tapped a pen against the edge of the inkwell. He knew where he wanted to go with it - in a way, it was about B'khyun, about them. As much as B'khyun harped on about how much of an improvement the Teaching Ballads was as a system, Y'xing quietly thought that songs that captured these moments were just as important. Yes, passing on the duties expected of them to the younger generations was a priority, but shouldn't the people who'd come before them be remembered as well?

Especially since--

His heart had stopped beating, when he'd seen Flarenth appear, wing Scored, with B'khyun falling from the sky.

But as much as it'd been that fear that had set his pen to paper, that wasn't what he wanted in this song. He wanted B'khyun's liveliness, his sulky moods, his excitement, something easy to sing and easy to remember. It was turning out to be harder than he'd thought, especially without it being too overt.

He had most of it - had had most of it now for weeks, but he wasn't quite content.

"Dragonmen must fly when Thread is in the sky," he murmured to himself, absentmindedly strumming chords. Why did he keep coming back to that line of the Duty Song?

He jotted down a few more chords, mouthing words to himself, trying to find the ones to fit. He glanced at what he had, crossed out a line, replaced it with another.

By the time he put down the gitar, he'd tweaked it a considerable amount, but was no closer to finishing. With a sigh, he replaced the music sheets in the drawer, going back to sit next to B'khyun on the bed.

Y'xing was absentmindedly rubbing circles in the dip against B'khyun's thumb, when B'khyun suddenly caught Y'xing's hand in his. Y'xing blinked, catching B'khyun's sleep hooded eyes, before leaning down, catching B'khyun's collarbone lightly between his teeth.

"Awake?" Y'xing murmured into B'khyun's skin.

B'khyun gave Y'xing's hand a squeeze. "Mmhmm," he hummed. "Have been for a while. Couldn't sleep with all your wailing."

"Good morning to you too," Y'xing said, well used to B'khyun's teasing by now. He wondered how much of the song B'khyun had heard, and just a little what he thought. He didn't want B'khyun to hear it until he was finished, though.

Y'xing shoved B'khyun over on the bed, enough for him to squeeze in between him and the edge. B'khyun murmured something about Y'xing getting fat, but shuffled over obligingly, immediately clinging to Y'xing the moment they were both settled, just as Y'xing had when he'd first awoken.

He could feel B'khyun's breath against his bare chest, each inhale and exhale in time with the rise and fall of his own chest. Y'xing brought up a hand, brushing his fingers against the side of B'khyun's face.

"Fingers cold," B'khyun murmured, his eyes fluttering open.

Y'xing complaisantly removed them, but promptly let them fall against B'khyun's neck instead.

B'khyun let out a quiet yelp, eyes snapping open to glare at Y'xing as he slapped his hand away. "Shards, that was, that was mean!"

"Hm?" Y'xing kept a blank expression firmly fixed on his face. "What did I do?"

B'khyun's lips formed a pout, as he wiggled his fingers, inching them closer towards Y'xing's own neck. Y'xing laughed, shrugging his shoulders up, neatly avoiding B'khyun's mock attack.

"I'll help you oil Faranth," Y'xing said quickly.

B'khyun seemed to consider this. "You'll oil _all_ of Flarenth," he countered.

Flarenth was big, but not nearly as big as Layrth. "Alright," Y'xing agreed.

"Deal," B'khyun said, before Y'xing could change his mind. They both knew though that B'khyun would end up helping anyway - but it was the thought that counted.

Having established a temporary truce, B'khyun buried his face against Y'xing's side again, his hand pressed against his chest. Wisps of B'khyun's hair tickled against Y'xing's face, as Y'xing breathed in B'khyun's scent. He was content in this small moment of quiet, this brief oasis they returned to the bustle of weyr life. They'd have to get up soon enough, and help with all the tasks that came with running a weyr. Oil their dragons, check wing assignments, see if there were any tithes to be picked up. Y'xing had promised to see what medicines they were running low on, and to procure more if necessary. B'khyun probably had his own tasks too. They both needed to check their harnesses and riding gear as well, ensure that it was well oiled and supple, ready to withstand the strain of fighting Thread as well as the cold of _between_ \- but B'khyun especially needed to.

Clear that Y'xing's mind was wandering, B'khyun leaned up to catch Y'xing's lips in a kiss, bringing him back to the present. Immediately, Y'xing kissed him back, slow and deep. A smile was on his lips as he did so, the morning filled with contentment.

It was B'khyun who drew back, his face ringed in a soft halo of light from the early sun, a smile playing across his features.

"We should get up," he said, and Y'xing groaned, pulling the blankets off B'khyun and over his head.

"You promised to pick up Taekwoon this morning, remember?" B'khyun reminded him. "He's bringing back some of grandma's sweetrolls that you like so much."

Y'xing was tempted by the thought of food - but he would much rather bury his face in B'khyun's chest instead, which was what he did. B'khyun just laughed, prying Y'xing off and getting out of bed, leaving Y'xing with no choice but to follow dazedly.

"Up we get," B'khyun said, pulling Y'xing to his feet. Y’xing, feelingly, groaned.

As it turned out, they never quite got around to picking up Taekwoon in the morning.

They were just finishing their breakfast when they felt it. Without looking, they knew that gold Inith, who'd been all but glowing for days, was rising to mate. Y'xing berated himself for forgetting - he must have _known_ , it'd just been lost in how busy the past few days had been. Looking around him, at the faces on the rest of the weyrfolk, the riders especially, he knew that he wasn't alone.

"Come _on_!" B'khyun grabbed Y'xing's hand, bolting for the stairs.

The entire weyr was vibrating with emotion and anticipated need, and they were not the only two who were running for their own weyrs. If only Layrth and Flarenth weren't caught in the fervour of the queen rising, like the others, the weyrs would be so close.

Glancing around them, Y'xing jerked back, his fingers closing around B'khyun's wrist in a vice grip. B'khyun came to an abrupt halt, his mouth open to berate Y'xing, but Y'xing didn't give him a chance as he pulled B'khyun into an unoccupied stockroom. There was no way they would make it to their own weyrs - Irinth must have already blooded - killing the herd beasts and drinking what would give them the energy for the mating flight, without being weighed down by meat. Y'xing could feel it, just as B'khyun must have been able to - she was flying, flying, flying, and all the bronze dragons of Fort weyr were flying as well, chasing after her, but she would outsmart them, she could fly higher than them all.

It was only quick impressions of this that Y'xing got, as he pressed B'khyun against the smoothed stone wall, fingers fumbling with ties, mouths caught in a fierce kiss. B'khyun was needy, nearly crying in his eagerness, a quiet whine as he shifted, his crotch pressed up against Y'xing's thigh, his fingers digging into Y'xing's back. Y'xing kissed B'khyun the way a drowning man sought for air. B'khyun's mouth was open, pliant, his tongue pressing against Y'xing's.

At the edge of Y'xing's mind, he felt Flarenth rise, Irinth's influence overwhelming, caught up in the mating frenzy. Layrth too, flew to catch her - weaving in and out, trading give and take, just like Y'xing dominated, before B'khyun forced Y'xing's tongue out of his mouth, his teeth nipping lightly at Y'xing's lips.

Their trousers loosened, Y'xing pushes both pairs past their hips, letting them fall to the floor. Flarenth dives, nearly losing Layrth had the brown not caught her tail with his, pulling her to a surprised stop. B'khyun's arms wrapped around Y'xing's neck, his back pressed against the wall. Y'xing helped, hand curved around one of B'khyun's thighs as B'khyun wrapped the other around Y'xing's waist as well. Y'xing-Layrth caught B'khyun-Flarenth, rider and dragon enveloped in mutual pleasure, heady and hot, as Y'xing thrust into B'khyun. B'khyun-Flarenth cried out with the thrill of coming together - B'khyun's face buried in Y'xing's shoulder, his teeth closing against his skin.

Y'xing held B'khyun up against the wall, his hips snapping forward again and again, his own body consumed with the way B'khyun tightened around him, B'khyun's cries of each movement. B'khyun's teeth in his shoulder, his nails digging into his neck, his back, Y'xing closed his own mouth around B'khyun's ear.

They were plummeting, Layrth and Flarenth, caught together as they mated, tail in tail, wingtip to wingtip. They were so ready, so perfect, two parts of one and they were meant to be like this, intertwined, nearly indistinguishable. How wonderful this was, how irreplaceable, inimitable, Y'xing's moan of release buried in B'khyun's hair as he explodes, his need welling up and overwhelming and satisfaction all burned into every inch, every corner and every hair of his body, the warmth of contentment, the elation, the tumult of emotion, of urgency and want and attainment. He knew too, through Layrth, through Flarenth, through B'khyun, all four of their minds and hearts joined as they plummeted in passion, that B'khyun too was immersed in those things. It was not the come spilling over him that Y'xing felt first, but B'khyun's exuberance, exhilaration, the sheer glee of the moment.

They stayed like that for long moments, long after Inith and bronze Dath had flown high and well in their mating flight, long after Layrth and Flarenth had landed from theirs. They stayed like that, pressed chest to chest, B'khyun still supported by Y'xing and the wall. They stayed like that, breaths falling and rising as one, hearts beating in time. They stayed like that until Y'xing's arms were sore and slowly, apologetically, he let B'khyun down, his breath catching in his throat, his chest still heaving lightly from exertion and satisfaction.

Immediately, B'khyun pulled Y'xing down for a kiss, taking his time as he sucked against his upper lip, tongue playing against the roof of Y'xing's mouth. Y'xing let him, let him in willingly, glad to give B'khyun the control. He likes having B'khyun pliant under him, likes the dynamics that they have as a brown and green rider, but he also likes giving B'khyun what he wants, likes being able to please B'khyun by yielding to his touch.

Suddenly spent, Y'xing let himself droop, his weight against B'khyun's shoulders. B'khyun pushed at him half heartedly, before opting instead to slide down against the wall, until they were both sprawled half on the floor.

"Too heavy for me," B'khyun complained.

Y'xing settled himself more solidly against B'khyun, a grin playing against his lips, hidden in B'khyun's hair. He was warm, tired, but suffused with a pleasant glow. B'khyun's hand was pressed against the small of his back, and his small snuff of pleasure played against Y'xing's neck. For once, Y'xing was too languid to react, only tightening his grip on B'khyun's ass.

A sudden thought came to mind, and Y'xing laughed.

"What s'it?" B'khyun murmured.

"Nothing," Yixing replied. Everything, he thought. Yes, he'd found what he'd been missing.

B'khyun let out a quiet huff, as Y'xing thought of ways to smooth his ruffled feathers. But for now, he was happy to lie with those ruffled feathers.

Outside, there was a bugle of draconic agreement - but the two riders were too lost in each other to hear.


End file.
